Meet the award-winning Estates manager who's transforming sustainable travel at Warwick
If you work on campus, you'll have noticed that some colleagues use vehicles to carry out their activities and services for the University - like our Estates team members travelling in vans to complete jobs in our halls of residence.
Graham Hine, Senior Transport Services Manager for Estates, is responsible for making sure all of these vehicles run as sustainably as possible - and he's been recognised for his great work, with GreenFleet's Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year award! We caught up with Graham to find out more...
Can you tell us about your award and the work that went into it?
Graham: "The award came as a total surprise and recognises the leadership, innovation and commitment at Warwick to reducing the impact on the environment from operating vans and other transport modes.
Transport accounts for 29 percent of the total carbon emissions created by the University - and so decarbonising the fleet (i.e. reducing CO2 emissions, by switching from diesel vehicles to electric) has a significant impact in reducing this.
I’ve brought in new strategies and championed the introduction of electric fleet vehicles since 2012 - I'm proud that Warwick has the biggest percentage of electric fleet vehicles than any other UK university and is leading the way to soon being 100 percent electric."
What should Warwick staff know about transport to and from campus?
Graham: "Lots! The staff Cycle to Work scheme was relaunched in August 2023 with an increased value of £3,000 - staff can spend this on a new bike and accessories, with payment options of either 12 or 18 months. These enhancements have made the scheme accessible to more staff and increase cycling.
There's also the staff EV Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme, which was launched in May 2022. This has been a huge success in providing staff with an opportunity to switch from a petrol or diesel car to an all-electric one, and it continues to grow.
Since 2020 we've also seen the launch of the Car Club scheme, West Midlands Bus on Demand service, West Midlands Cycle Hire scheme, new National Express bus service numbers 14, 41 and 42 and discounted bus passes."
We've now got the results of our Travel Survey. Talk us through the key themes...
Graham: "Car travel remains the most common form of transport for our staff (61% of staff surveyed), while bus travel is most common among students (41% of students surveyed).
Both staff and students are likely to be most satisfied with cycling to and from campus (76% satisfied for staff, 81% for students). To support this, areas we want to improve further include increasing the availability and security of cycle parking across campus.
The TfWM free 4 week bus pass offer in September 2024 was hugely successful, with staff and students at Warwick recording the highest numbers of take up (5,989) from any organisation in the West Midlands."
What's one thing you wish everyone knew about travel and transport at Warwick?
Graham: "We are respected and admired by other universities and businesses for our leadership and innovation and the wide range of sustainable transport initiatives we have compared to others."
Your pioneering work has changed things for many teams around Warwick - it's helped with research into decarbonisation, for example. What's next?
Graham: "The Warwick fleet achieving 100 per cent electric in the shortest time possible and continuing to be an exemplar in the sustainable transport space. I’m keen to share my experience and learnings with other universities and businesses and offer my support in helping them develop strategies to transition to electric vehicles and decarbonising their fleets.
I’m also responsible for developing and promoting the sustainable transport initiatives at Warwick, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions, and I want to influence more staff and students to use these initiatives. In the longer term, I hope my work in sustainable transport leaves a positive legacy at Warwick."
Find out more
- Transport and mobility at Warwick
- GreenFleet most influential 2025 (Graham Hine at #90)
- GreenFleet Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year 2024 - Graham Hine